


We Meet Again

by ashdeanmanns



Series: Stucky One-Shots and Shorts [7]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gay Bucky Barnes, Gay Steve Rogers, Horseback Riding, Islands, Long-Distance Relationship, Long-Term Relationship(s), M/M, One Shot, One Shot Collection, POV Bucky Barnes, Post-High School, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Summer, Summer Love, Summer Romance, Summer Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:21:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24176542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashdeanmanns/pseuds/ashdeanmanns
Summary: Mackinac Island was a land of simple pleasures - locked in by the crystal blue waters of Lake Superior and the Straits of Mackinaw, the heat from the glowing sun and the cool air wafting off the water. It didn't have any cars; just bikes, horse-drawn taxis, and lots of walking.To Bucky, the island was home.Steve Rogers and his parents vacationed there every year, staying for a week during the summer. Long distance wasn't the preferred circumstance, but a sixteen minute ferry ride and the state of Michigan stood between them.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Stucky One-Shots and Shorts [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1732867
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	We Meet Again

**Author's Note:**

> I went to Mackinac Island YEARS ago, so I am working from memory, Google Maps, and Google Searches.
> 
> I stayed at Steve's hotel, it was an adorable place.
> 
> Cindy's Riding Stables is a real establishment, I got a crash course in horseback riding. They took us through the woods, I lead, and got a spiderweb all over my face.
> 
> Enjoy (:

Bucky waited - not so patiently - by the bicycle rentals looming in front of the ferry docks. He was surrounded by the mindless chatter of the masses that walked on the streets around him, the clopping of the horses' hooves as they hit the pavement. The scent of sugar, lavender, and freshwater was a constant, almost enough to tone down the pungency of the road apples - the name confused incoming tourists, but it was more pleasant than to say 'the shit on the street from the working taxi horses.'

Mackinac Island was a land of simple pleasures - locked in by the crystal blue waters of Lake Superior and the Straits of Mackinaw, the heat from the glowing sun and the cool air wafting off the water. It didn't have any cars; just bikes, horse-drawn taxis, and _lots_ of walking.

To Bucky, the island was home. His mother - an author, who thrived when surrounded by paradise and new places - had grown tired of Indiana by the time he was four, when she had just learned she was pregnant with his little sister Rebecca. His parents did their research and made the move to the island - where they had gotten engaged, years before - a place his mother found beautiful and was inspired by. Her book sales thrived, she and her editor fought less and less as she wrote more and more, creativity brought on by the new, refreshing environment.

He glanced down at his phone, clicking the side power button. His screen lit up, letting him read the notification from only a minute before.

**Steve Rogers**   
**On the ferry. See you soon (:**

Bucky smiled, and slid his phone back into the pocket of his cargo shorts. Sixteen to twenty minutes. After waiting for so long already, that seemed like forever.

Steve and his parents usually stayed at the Inn on Stonecliffe, a cute little Bed and Breakfeast style hotel deep in the woodsy trails. Joseph Rogers made good money working for Marathon, Sarah as a nurse at their nearby hospital. They came from Ohio every summer, for the last ten years. The two met when Bucky was ten and Steve was nine, and Bucky was helping out at Cindy's Riding Stables when Sarah put her son in front of her on their horse.

They saw each other for the next handful of summers, until Bucky was thirteen and decided to actually talk to the other boy. The year after that, they traded numbers. Texted almost every day, called mostly on school weekends and randomly throughout the summer - outside of the week Steve was on the island, usually spending his birthday there.

At fifteen, he led Steve on a bike ride around the island, around the very edges so they could spot the passing boats. They stopped somewhere along the trail, to watch the sparkling waves and talk privately in the surrounding silence.

The kiss was something Bucky hadn't planned, but he'd been wanting to for almost a year, since he saw Steve off and could only think about how he didn't want him to leave ever again. It wasn't Bucky's first kiss (that had been Dolores Eynon. They'd known each other since kindergarten, usually had the same class until they got to middle school. After she kissed him on the cheek before going to one of her classes in eighth grade, he asked her out to the spring dance. She said yes. He walked her home afterward, and she kissed him before she scurried into her house. For a first kiss, it was fine - but it wasn't what he wanted) but it was the first one that Bucky had initiated. And if he was honest, he had no clue what he was doing.

Steve didn't really seem to care about that. They learned together.

Bucky managed to take him out on a date before he had to leave again. Months later, in October, Steve asked if they were boyfriends.

Three years later, they were still going strong, despite the distance and the fact that they only had one week together a year, give or take - a year ago from the recent March, Bucky had convinced his parents to drive down to Toledo for Steve's art show. He was able to meet Steve's friends outside of a video chat or phone call, support him when he won first place. Steve showed him around town - because the last time Bucky had been in Toledo was when he was three, and his dad had to take him to a University of Toledo alumni gathering. They dicked around in the Imagination Station with Natasha and Sam, Steve's best friends.

Bucky perked up when he saw Steve walking beside his parents. Their suit cases were being pulled from the ferry, and were going to be taken to their hotel. He took a moment to study him - still stick thin, but he seemed to have put on a little bit of muscle, so he wasn't all skin and bones. His hair was floppy and swept up from the ferry ride, the fair coloring streaked with a blue that had faded to a mint green. He had a drawstring bag thrown over his back, heavy with the roller skates Bucky had told him to bring, and other necessities while his suitcase immediately went to the hotel (Bucky had his own bag, too.)

Then his eyes found Bucky's, and his face split with a grin. He broke away from his parents to jog toward Bucky, who pushed himself off the edge of a bike rack and met him partway. Bucky hooked his arms around his tiny waist and pulled him close, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

It had been too long.

Pulling away slightly, he smiled down at Steve, who looked a little over the moon. "Hey, you."

"Right back at you," Steve responded, under his breath, and craned his neck up to press a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Knowing that Sarah and Joseph were nearing, Bucky released him. He gestured in the vague direction of the stables. "We're going riding, and then I'm giving you your early birthday gift." He looked past Steve's shoulders to smile at the Rogerses. "Hi! Mom said that she wants you guys at our house by four, at the latest. We'll meet you there."

Sarah came and hooked an arm around Bucky's shoulders, pulling him into a motherly hug. With a warm smile, she said, "Just don't get lost again. We don't need a repeat of that incident."

Cheeks burning red, Steve averted his eyes. Bucky just grinned and folded one of Steve's hands in his own, their palms pressed and their fingers entwined. "We'll stick to the trails, I promise. Circle around and come back in near the fort."

He started to lead Steve toward the stables, where he had picked up a paying job - instead of volunteering - when he was twelve. Their fingers were tightly entwined, heat building between their palms; but neither of them cared. They were too busy smiling dumbly, wanting to kiss again but not in the middle of the buslting sidewalk. They barely spoke, outside of idle small talk and jokes, until they got out into the woods, on their own. Freckles of light covered the leaves and bare ground giving the woods a golden glow.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Graduate?" Steve teased, a slight smile on his face. He quickly came back to his own attention, exclaiming in disgust and wiping at his jaw and neck. "Fuck, there's a spiderweb!"

Bucky laughed, and pushed his heels into his horse's side to urge her to trot forward a little faster. He came up beside his boyfriend, and said, "I bet the spider's in your shirt."

He scoffed. He grumbled, already sounding like he hated Bucky's existence, "Jesus, Buck, shut up."

With his hands tight on the saddle, he said with false mourning, "Well, I guess you're not interested in the fact that Toledo University accepted me..."

Steve's head whipped back toward him. "You _what_?"

Bucky repeated, more confident in the reveal (he had been waiting to tell Steve about the college acceptance letters in person, because he was sure that it wasn't something to tell him over the phone), "Toledo University accepted my application. I'm moving in early August."

"Since when did you apply?" he asked, a little breathless in shock and disbelief. He looked at Bucky like he'd grown two more heads

"I told you months ago!" he exclaimed back. "It was the middle of the night, I'm pretty sure you were sick -"

"You can't hold me accountable to fever speak," he quickly defended.

Bucky rolled his eyes, though a smile tugged at his lips. "Anyways. Michigan State and UT both accepted me. I wanted to be close to home, anyways, but with either one I'd be able to see you."

Steve just stared at him, face taken over with amazement. A small, disbelieving smile tugged at his open mouth, the molten gold sunlight creating a dappled pattern against his fair features.

 _He looks beautiful_ , Bucky couldn't help but think.

And he'd soon be able to see him without any distance in their way.


End file.
